At 3:30 pm the 23rd of February 2010 mount Alen went up in a blaze of flames. The cause was forestry workers equipment went in to flames. The forestry work had to be evacuated immediately. On the 24th, Dunedin residents woke up to a cloud of smoke. Helicopters worked through the night with monsoon buckets. The smell of smoke is still in Dunedin. Some residents had to be evacuated near the blaze. The helicopters got the water from the Taieri river there was a dozen helicopters with monsoon buckets.